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01/05/2014 – Dunstall Ward News – European Elections Special

The Labour Party continues to grow in Burgess Hill, with an ever increasing membership.

Our two Burgess Hill Town Councillors, Janet Smith and David Andrews – elected in by-elections in 2012 to represent Meeds and St Andrews Wards – continue to question and challenge the ruling Conservative Group on the Town Council.

Burgess Hill Labour Party aims to grow its representation when the town council is next elected in 2015 so that more Burgess Hill residents can have the benefit of Labour councillors fighting their corner.

Council Tax Benefits withheld by Mid Sussex District Council

Burgess Hill Labour Party is the only political party publicly challenging Mid Sussex District Council on its stance of refusing to pass on Government funding to town and parish councils to pay for Council Tax benefits, which will cost Burgess Hill Town Council nearly £30,000. Mid Sussex District Council is the only council in Sussex to take this stance, and has been roundly criticised by the National Association of Local Councils and Local Government Minister Brandon Lewis MP. (source – Mid Sussex Times 17 April 2014)

Also in this edition

European Election Facts

Whose side are the Tories on?

The Truth about UKIP

Details of Labour’s Lead Candidates and what they will do for Burgess Hill

National Issues

Neighbourhood Plan, Railways, Energy Prices

Will the Tories and UKIP look after us in Europe?

Whose side are the Tories on?

Cameron’s Conservatives are standing up for bankers. Cameron and Osborne have taken the EU to court to stop a tough new cap on bankers’ bonuses. Labour supports a tough cap on bankers’ bonuses.

Cameron’s Conservatives are letting young people down. This Tory-led Government is refusing to sign up to a Europe-wide Jobs Guarantee for young people. Labour backs a Youth Jobs Guarantee with a real paid job for all those under 25 who’ve been out of work for a year.

Cameron’s Conservatives are attacking our rights at work. The Tories want to renegotiate the UK’s relationship with the EU, so that some British businessess can “opt out” of the rights at work we get from Europe. Rights like four weeks’ paid leave, time off for pregnant mums to go to ante-natal appointments, and equal treatment for agency workers. Labour’s MEPs have fought hard to protect the rights at work that are guaranteed for all working people in Europe.

The truth about UKIP?

They’re like the Tories, but worse

Want job security or a contract? Take a pay cut! UKIP think job security is a luxury that you should pay for with lower wages.

Maternity pay? who needs it! UKIP would scrap the right to maternity leave for women working for small businesses, and cut maternity pay by more than half.

Our NHS up for sale to the highest bidder. UKIP would hand the whole of our NHS to private companies. From ambulances to hospitals wards, services would be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Tax cuts for the richest, tax hikes for the rest! UKIP would introduce a flat tax rate, raising taxes for the poorest tax-payers, while the rich would pay much less. UKIP would also scrap rules that prevent tax avoidance by big companies.

Paid holidays? Sick pay? Scrapped. UKIP would scrap your legal right to four weeks’ paid holidays. They’d also scrap other rights, like fixed working hours, pay when you’re ill, or redundancy pay.

There is a choice to be made about the kind of Europe we want to see – a Europe for the bankers or a Europe for everyone.

Labour’s Lead Candidates

Anneliese Dodds

Is a University lecturer. She has worked as a policy specialist on healthcare and many other areas of public services. Anneliese does voluntary work to help families suffering hardship due to debt and the effects of unemployment.

John Howarth

Runs a small design business. He is an experienced Labour councillor who won funding from Government and the European Union for major transport projects. John is marries with two grown up children and a teenage step-daughter.

Vote Labour on 22nd May - every Labour vote in Mid Sussex will count

Here in Burgess Hill we vote as part of the South East England European Constituency. It is an enormous area. MEPs are allocated according to the number of votes each party gets – so every single vote for Labour helps gain more MEPs to stand up for people in Mid Sussex.

In the European Elections on 22nd May we need to elect MEPs who will work hard for Mid Sussex. MEPs who will stand up for the rights of ordinary people. Right to annual holiday, parental leave, equal pay and safety in the workplace, to know what’s in our food and to health treatment when we travel abroad.

These are the rights Conservative and UKIP MEPs would give away, leaving British people worse off than citizens in the rest of Europe. Why should we in Burgess Hill be second class citizens in Europe? Labour MEPs will make sure that British people are entitled to the same rights as French, German or Spanish citizens.

In West Sussex around 41,000 jobs depend on Britain’s relationship with the rest of Europe (source – Office for National statistics) We need MEPs who will argue for the investment in infrastructure and skills that we need to attract jobs to this area and to enable businesses in West Sussex to compete effectively in a modern economy.

We’ve been poorly served by Conservative MEPs who spend plenty of time fighting among themselves about Europe but deliver very little for people in Mid Sussex, and by UKIP MEPs who can’t be bothered to turn up to crucial votes but still claim expenses.

Three of the five most idle MEPs are UKIP members miss a third of all votes in the Parliament. Nigel Farage rarely turns up – he has the fifth worst attendance record out of all 752 MEPs but has been caught boasting about his large expenses bill.

National Issues

Burgess Hill Neighbourhood Plan

Consultation on Burgess Hill’s Neighbourhood Plan has recently ended. Residents of Burgess Hill face a difficult choice between unregulated housing development and developments that can be managed under the umbrella of a neighbourhood plan. The benefits of a plan would be that developers’ money can be used to develop the town and that green spaces will be protected and leisure facilities enhanced. Burgess Hill Labour Party considers that, on balance, an agreed Neighbourhood Plan would be good for our town.

Railways

East Coast Trains (currently in public ownership because private franchises could not run the franchise profitably) has paid millions of pounds in profits to the taxpayer. It is rated in the top five railway lines in the country. First Capital Connect, who will soon be bidding to keep and extend their franchise are rated in the bottom five operators in a recent survey. Burgess Hill Labour Party says “Not for profit” public companies should be set up to run railway companies, with profits used to improve the railways and keep fares down.

Energy Prices

A Labour Government would freeze energy prices for 20 months to allow the market to be re-organised so that it works for customers. Burgess Hill Labour Party says the freeze is essential but energy companies should pay back excess profits if prices are increased before the freeze. There should also be tough regulation to prevent excessive price rises after the freeze.

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